A hotel developer filed a lawsuit against some of New York City’s largest landlords over the year-long construction delay for a project in Times Square.
Flintlock Construction Services filed a lawsuit against SL Green, Sam Chang’s McSam Hotel Group, Natixis and a family landlord for delaying access needed to start demolition at 711 Seventh Avenue, Crain’s reported. Flintlock wants a judge to force its neighbors to provide immediate access.
The developer already obtained permits to install safeguards, including window and roof barriers, at its construction site. Before demolition on the site’s two structures can begin, however, Flintlock says it needs six months of access to the neighboring buildings.
The developer claims it has been “extraordinarily reasonable” in attempting to get the access over the past year, but the neighbors are causing “irreparable harm” to the $64 million project. None of the defendants responded to the publication’s request for comment.
The 32-story, 400-room property is set to be operated by the InterContinental Hotel Group under its Voco brand. Gene Kaufman is designing the property and Beach Point Capital Management is weighing financing construction, which is slated to begin next year.
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Atlas Hospitality last year filed plans for a 140,000-square-foot hotel project at the same site, featuring details that largely match those on Flintlock’s website. Atlas’ involvement in the project is unclear, though there were no records immediately available indicating that Atlans had sold the development site.
Atlas did not immediately return The Real Deal’s request for comment.
Natixis’ appearance in the lawsuit comes after some recent troubles at 20 Times Square. The French bank and a group of overseas investors took over the property at 701 Seventh Avenue earlier this year through foreclosure after Mark Siffin’s Maefield Development and Fortress Investment Group defaulted on the leasehold debt.
— Holden Walter-Warner